Everyone Has a Poker Face
by Ice Princess Xia
Summary: Very much AU. Matt and Joe are best friends entering their third year of highschool. They've been through a lot already but can they handle a few surprises in the coming year? onesided Yamachi, onesided Joumi...for now
1. The Ace

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or the characters involved in this story.

Author Note: Hey Everyone! Ice again out with a new fanfic! This one I am excited about even though I haven't completely planned it out. The first four chapters of this story are going to be relatively short just to introduce the inner workings and thoughts of the four main characters and there is a lot of background information that you will learn about in later chapters so just hold tight for some of that. Also, every chapter will hopefully be named after a card in the deck or a hand in poker so look out for those too!

IMPORTANT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU READ

This story is set in Season 2/high school era and is set in Japan. Be forewarned!!! I live in the United States so I do not know the school system in Japan. I'm basing this off my own high school and the way it worked so please bear with me on that. Also realize that I do not really know the cities of Japan so as far as where they live and what they do outside of school, I'll try to keep it pretty basic.

Also some warnings: One-sided Yamachi, one-side Jyomi, bashing of Sora (sorry, just don't like her) and other warnings later. For now, enjoy!

Everyone Has A Poker Face

Chapter 1: The Ace

Matt's POV

I watched my father drive away in his beat up piece of crap car and waved not really knowing why. I knew my father wouldn't wave back because that's just the guy he is but I tried my best to keep hope in my life…or at least that's what I was trying to convince myself of as I turned around to face my high school for the third year in a row. I took one last glance back to see my dad turning right onto the main street…I guess now I'm stuck here. Releasing a deep sigh, I readjusted my bag on my shoulder and took my first few steps forward into the place I could not stand.

It was a regular Monday morning at the high school. I strolled in through the front doors and immediately turned left to bypass the crowd that was always gathered in the front lobby. As I gently pushed through the crowd, I recognized a few faces but didn't expect or receive any welcoming responses. To my right, I could see the stairs leading to the second floor and beyond that was the cafeteria but I decided to head there later instead of now. Finally exiting the lobby, I kept walking straight, headed for my locker, and took a good look at the hallways. They looked…pretty much the same; still dull, still ugly, still needed a major paint job. The classrooms I passed were empty other than teachers writing on blackboards and setting up for their first classes of the day; I hadn't even looked at my class schedule yet to be honest. I had finally reached my locker and I quickly opened it and threw any unimportant stuff I had in my bag inside the metal enclosure. I closed and locked it before turning and walking back towards the cafeteria. As I passed people by, they were hugging and screaming with smiles on their faces; did I mention it was the first day of school?

I entered the cafeteria and found another giant mass of grinning joyous people. Rolling my eyes at their over-abundant happiness, I made my way to my usual table where I found my best friend already sitting and waiting for me.

Joe Kido looked up from his book as I sat in the chair next to him. He adjusted his glasses and smiled at me. He, of course, was dressed in the same school uniform as I was; green blazer, white collared shirt, beige slacks and closed-toe shoes. I tossed my bag on the table and leaned back in my chair trying my best to get comfortable.

"Hey Matt."

"Hey Joe, what's up?" I smiled back at him as he put down his book. Joe shrugged and I could tell that he had something up his sleeve.

"Oh you know the usual; reading ahead, listening in on people's extremely loud conversations, popping Aspirin because of said conversations and, well, freaking out." I rolled my eyes at my over reactive friend and leaned forward with my elbows on the table.

"Joe, we've been here two years now. I thought you would be over first day jitters and fears, I mean, it's just high school." Joe threw his hands up in the air full of misplaced frustration.

"But we're juniors now! This is the most important year…the one that college's look at in deep detail! What am I going to do? I'll never make it!" I laughed a little as Joe put his head down on the table, sighing heavily. He looked up at me again as I spoke.

"Joe, would you quit worrying? Other then that Koushiro kid that graduated like three years early, you're pretty much the smartest guy in the school. If you just do what you do every year, you're going to get good grades and you'll get into medical school." I smiled, as Joe's face still had fear written all over it as he sighed deeply and slouched his shoulders. "I mean, you barely even break a sweat doing work, not like me. You find it interesting but I can't stand it! Besides, it's only the first day so you know that means that all it's going to be are introductions and going over the syllabus and…Joe?"

I trailed off as Joe's attention strayed away from my pep talk. Following his gaze I should've known what, or shall I say whom, had caught his eye. Mimi Tachikawa. She was the perfect height and weight, not too tan, hot pink hair, was head cheerleader and dressed with all the latest trends, outside of school of course. Everybody knew her and everybody loved her but only jocks have the chance to date her and still Joe has had a crush on this girl ever since she talked to him _one time_ when he was eight. At the current moment, she was standing and talking with her closest friend Sora. Sora was relatively the same height and weight as Mimi but had red hair and was famous for being one of the dumbest people in the school. She was kind of like Mimi's sidekick and could be pretty in her own way but mostly she was just flat out rude which annoyed the hell out of me; but I digress. Taking a glance back at Joe now, I could almost see the drool falling from his lips; I shook my head and chuckled a bit. Can we say obsessive? However, when it comes to being obsessive over someone, I have no room to talk. As I turned back to see if Mimi had noticed Joe's blanked out face staring at her, I saw him and my mind immediately melted like butter on a hot day. He was walking across the cafeteria, a huge smile on his face as he approached his buddies and gave them high fives.

Taichi Kamiya, the two most beautiful words ever spoken. If you want to talk about perfect, that was the only word to describe him. He had perfectly toned skin, an amazingly built body that even looked sexy in our bland uniforms, that kind of crazy brown hair you just wanted to run your fingers through, facial features to die for…oh, need I go on? And to top it all off, he was head of the soccer team so everybody loves him. I had always had weird thoughts about boys when I was younger but the moment I saw him, I knew I was gay and I have been head over heels ever since. As I began to daydream, I heard Joe chuckling next to me.

"Matt, you're drooling." I was shaken from my trance by Joe's joking voice and I rolled my eyes.

"Please, not as badly as you are."

"What?!" I laughed to myself as Joe freaked out and frantically wiped his mouth thinking that I was serious. Even though he was kind of a spaz, I always felt lucky to have Joe as my friend. He is the only person that knows about my crush on Tai and he still accepts me for who I am, and, after a while, you just can't help but learn to love him; but again, I digress.

So, of course, Joe and I were both totally madly in love with the two most popular kids at our school who would never even notice us if we were in giant bunny suits with huge fluffy white tails singing Christmas music in the middle of March. Yet, here we were still staring them down as though they might turn our way and smile or wave as if we were all old friends. Our dreams were crushed though as the school bell rang out and everyone began to scurry along to their appointed classrooms. I turned back to Joe and we both shook our heads at our behavior. I chuckled and spoke.

"Hey, it's a new year, you never know, right?" Joe just scoffed at that and started gathering up his things.

"I hate to say this Matt but I'm pretty sure that those dreams will never happen." While I mostly agreed with him, I had to question my best friend's logic for reasons only the two of us knew.

"I dunno Joe, I mean, miracles have happened to us before, have they not?" I smiled to my friend and he took a pensive moment for himself before confidently grinning back at me.

"That's true. That really was a miracle."

"And look where we are now." I patted Joe on the back as we both started to walk towards the hallways.

"So I've got literature class first, what class do you start with?" At Joe's question, I pulled out my assigned schedule to check and then stopped in my tracks, groaning in utter disappointment. Joe stopped with me and glanced over my shoulder. When he chuckled, I knew he had read what it was.

"I thought that you were done with history classes." I sighed and we started walking again.

"I thought that I was too but apparently not. Ugh, this is so stupid. I hate history." As Joe and I approached the stairwell, we stopped, as I knew he had to go upstairs to the second floor and I would remain on the bottom floor. Joe smiled at me and smacked me on the back lightly.

"Don't worry Matt; I can help you out again. Just try and pay attention this time around." I rolled my eyes at him and began to walk away.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll try. But hey, have a good first day and I'll see you during lunch, alright?" Joe nodded to me and waved good-bye before bounding up the stairs. I took one last moment to myself before looking back down at my schedule and groaning again. In the past two years, I had taken history and too much of it if you ask me but here I was again signed up for what I hoped to be my last history class.

"What is this class about anyway?" I mumbled to myself trying to find the description for the class. "The history of Asia…maybe this won't be so bad after all. I do live here somewhat." I shrugged to myself and found the room number before turning and trudging my unhappy butt down the hall.

I rolled my eyes at the various couples making out outside classroom doors. They really just need a room in the school for that sort of thing. From there my mind drifted to a dreamy make-out session of my own which included Tai and some definite tongue action. I tried to shake the image from my mind and told myself that it would never happen. Not only would Tai never notice me, even if he did, he's not gay so it would never work. No matter how much I thought about our perfect little life together, I knew it was only a dream…but then again…dreaming can't hurt right? I smiled deviously to myself and drifted back into my thoughts but before I knew it, the tardy bell was ringing. I cursed under my breath and realized that I had actually already passed by my classroom. Power-walking back down the hall, I finally reached my classroom just in time for everyone to stare up at me as I walked in cheeks red from embarrassment. Naturally, I chose a seat more towards the back of the room and sat down.

"Well, Mr. Ishida, finally decided to join us this morning?" I looked to my professor and flashed an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry Ms. Kim. It won't happen again, I hope." She gave me a look and I just kept up my smile. Fortunately, for me, I'd had this teacher before for a previous history class so she already knew all of my antics. She and I actually went way back considering I was failing the first class I had with her and my dad never came to the parent-teacher conferences so she had to tell me everything. I knew that she wouldn't give me a detention this time around but next time, my butt was hers. Eventually she rolled her eyes at me and began addressing the entire class about how reading our book was important to pass the class. I released a sigh and opened up my notebook ready to take notes…or maybe sleep.

I knew this was going to be a long day.

End

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Please know, just like my other current Digimon story "Discovering College", this story will be continued based on reviews! I need feedback to get motivated even if you review with a simple "good job, keep it up" that makes my day completely. I try to review every story I read and I hope that you will do the same!

Go check out some of my other stories too.

Thank you for reading! Contact me if you have any questions etc.


	2. The Joker

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon though if I did I would force Tai and Matt together and probably claim Joe as my own.

Author Note: Okay, I have to say that I was nervous writing this chapter. At first I was nervous because this story was getting basically no attention whatsoever. Then I got nervous because it was getting attention and THEN I got nervous because this chapter is from Joe's POV and everyone was commenting about how I wrote him well in the first chapter. So I really hope that I pulled it off in this chapter as well.

Anyway, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE REVIEWERS! Like I said, this story was not seeming to get much attention so I was worried especially since I really have so many ideas for this story, but you guys and your reviews kept me going. So thank you!

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**::IMPORTAN PLEASE READ THIS::**

With my being somewhat absent-minded, I completely forgot to mention in the last chapter that this story (if you couldn't tell already) is set in an Alternate Universe. The stuff in the Digiworld and all that never happened. So that means, before now, the main characters met on different terms or haven't even met at all if that makes sense. In addition, the digidestined from the second season will be in this story as well (since it's set in their time) and everyone goes to the same high school. (Man, am I taking literary liberties or what??)

On another note, this chapter not only starts back at the very beginning of the school day but it very much coincides with the first chapter so a lot of the conversation is the same but it's now from Joe's POV so maybe you will get more insight about everything between him and Matt. And I know that this chapter is somewhat short as well, but like I said, the first four will probably be short just to merely introduce the four main characters. Trust me though, chapter five is going to be awesome.

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Warnings: one-sided Taito, one-sided Joumi for now. Oh and there's major Matt and Joe friendship but even though it might seem like more, it definitely is not which I hope can be seen through their drooling over Tai and Mimi. wink

Okay, you can finally enjoy this chapter.

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Everyone Has A Poker Face

Chapter 2: The Joker

Joe's POV

I rounded the corner and began the long hike up the hill that led to the front doors to the high school. Wiping some sweat from my brow, I checked my watch and ran through a list in my head making sure that I had everything for the first day back. I had left early just in case I had to walk back to my house and then back to the school again. I finally reached the top of the hill and continued walking on to the front doors. Taking in a deep…deep…breath, I nervously opened the doors and was surprised to find that not many people had arrived yet. Was I really that early? Shrugging to myself, I continued until I reached Matt's and my table that we always met at in the mornings. I didn't ever bother with putting things in my locker unless it was absolutely necessary; I just kept all of my books with me…you know…just in case I couldn't make it to my locker in time or something. Matt always tells me that I'm crazy but he should probably be more like me considering how many times he's forgotten his books. I rolled my eyes at my own thought; as if Matt would listen to my sensible thinking, at least, when it came to school and such. I settled into my chair and got out my latest reading adventure waiting for Matt to arrive.

Matt and I have been best friends since our first year of high school so I knew by now that he wasn't a big fan of school even though he usually does well anyhow. I swear, I go to class every day and study every night and I make good grades but I most definitely have to work for them. Matt however? He goes to class and sleeps, then goes home and sleeps and then takes the tests and gets almost as good a grade as I get! In some ways, my best friend was just a genius and sometimes it surprises me how well we get along. Even though he doesn't always listen to my advice, he listens when it counts and shoots it right back at me when I need it and thank god; otherwise, we both could've been…

My thoughts were rudely interrupted by a few girls shrieking and hugging each other not too far from where I was. I sighed to myself realizing how much the cafeteria had filled up with more students. As more people began talking loudly, naturally, the room became extremely noisy and, completely out of habit, I reached into my school bag and grabbed two Aspirin popping them into my mouth without even a sip of water. Trust me, when you take as many Aspirin as I do, you learn to not even need water.

On instinct somehow, I looked up from my book and saw a blonde head of crazy-cool-styled hair headed my way. I adjusted my glasses and smiled as Matt walked towards me; even though we were wearing the exact same outfit, he totally rocked it better than I ever could. He sat down and tossed his bag on our table before leaning back and smiling back at me.

"Hey Matt."

"Hey Joe, what's up?" I put down my book and shrugged in response. I had been trying to avoid thinking about school but considering I was already inside the building, I guess there was no backing out now.

"Oh you know the usual; reading ahead, listening in on people's extremely loud conversations, popping Aspirin because of said conversations and, well, freaking out." I watched Matt roll his eyes knowing exactly what would follow but having time to kill, let him speak his peace anyway.

"Joe, we've been here two years now. I thought you would be over first day jitters and fears, I mean, it's just high school." Sighing deeply, I threw my hands in the air at his comment probably a little too forcefully.

"But we're juniors now! This is the most important year…the one that college's look at in deep detail! What am I going to do? I'll never make it!" I put my head down on the table. Yeah, okay, I was overreacting about it all but I couldn't help being nervous. Like I said before, I have the brains but I have to work at it…what if I started slipping this year? I couldn't allow myself to do that! I heard Matt breathe deeply and looked back up at him knowing he was about to talk.

"Joe, would you quit worrying? Other then that Koushiro kid that graduated like three years early, you're pretty much the smartest guy in the school. If you just do what you do every year, you're going to get good grades and you'll get into medical school." I sighed deeply still not completely convinced but I knew he was right. "I mean, you barely even break a sweat doing work, not like me. You find it interesting but I can't stand it! Besides, it's only the first day so you know that means that all it's going to be are introductions and going over the syllabus and…Joe?"

Matt's pep talk was the last thing on my mind as _she _entered the cafeteria. Mimi Tachikawa aka the love of my life. It didn't even matter that she was in school uniform like every other girl in this place; she still looked more beautiful than anyone here did. She was just perfect all around, not fake looking like some of the girls. The only thing artificial about her was her hot pink hair but that didn't matter because it suited her well. And it also doesn't matter that I'm one of many nerdy guys that really want to date her despite the fact that she was head cheerleader and completely off-limits; I always just try and tell myself that if it's meant to be, she'll definitely choose me. After all, I'm absolutely positive that I've had a crush on her for the longest, ever since I was eight years old and she talked to me! I remember it like it was yesterday. Some of my old friends and I were playing basketball and, being clumsy, I knocked the ball off court. Mimi and her friends had been sitting off to the side just talking and the ball was flying right towards them. I tried to shout but the ball landed right in the middle of their circle. Mimi was the only one who didn't scream and run away; instead, she picked the ball up and walked over to me smiling. Trying to make me feel better she said, 'don't worry, those girls scare too easy anyway, here's your ball back.' And ever since, she's constantly been on my mind. I couldn't help but stare, ignoring Matt and everything else around her and me.

Not lifting my attention from Mimi still, I managed to peek over at Matt who had surprisingly become quiet. I wasn't at all shocked to find him in a state just like me especially after noticing the famous Tai Kamiya walking behind Mimi and over to his other soccer friends. I couldn't help but chuckle at him; I think I was the only person that knew about his crush on Tai so I tried to poke as much fun at him as possible knowing quite well that he would poke it right back at me.

"Matt, you're drooling." I noticed a flick in his eyes but he still didn't seem phased.

"Please, not as badly as you are."

"What?!" Forgetting anything else, I frantically wiped at my mouth soon realizing that Matt was just, as I said, poking the fun right back at me. I couldn't help but chuckle again; we were quite a pair. Him in love with the soccer star and me in love with the head cheerleader, two people that had the perfect lives and would probably never return our feelings but still we pined on. Despite my pessimism, I was not about to give up. Soon enough, the bell rang out, Matt looked back at me, and we both shook our heads. He started grabbing his things, chuckling again.

"Hey, it's a new year, you never know, right?" I scoffed and raised my eyebrow at him, gathering up my own things.

"I hate to say this Matt but I'm pretty sure that those dreams will never happen." I stuffed everything into my bag and stood looking to Matt only to find a curious look on his face.

"I dunno Joe, I mean, miracles have happened to us before, have they not?" He smiled to me and I couldn't help but grin back knowing exactly to what he was referring.

"That's true. That really was a miracle."

"And look where we are now." We both started to make our way to the classroom hallways and Matt gave me a pat on the back. Beginning to turn my focus on the task at hand, I posed a school-related question.

"So I've got literature class first, what class do you start with?" Slightly trailing behind Matt, I saw as he pulled out his schedule before stopping completely and groaning. Stopping to make sure I didn't run into and injure him and myself before first class, I looked over his shoulder to read and chuckled at what I found.

"I thought that you were done with history classes." We started walking again, this time at the same speed.

"I thought that I was too but apparently not. Ugh, this is so stupid. I hate history." We approached the stairwell and stopped both knowing I had to go upstairs. Trying to be sympathetic to Matt, I gave him a light slap on the back and smiled.

"Don't worry Matt; I can help you out again. Just try and pay attention this time around." I couldn't help but smile more as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll try. But hey, have a good first day and I'll see you during lunch, alright?" I waved to Matt before heading up the stairs, just naturally taking them two at a time. I wasn't late or anything but, being tall and gangly, it was just more fun that way. I headed straight for my classroom not really paying attention to the happenings around me.

During literature, the teacher kept talking about the syllabus for over ten minutes and my thoughts began to wander. I thought about Matt sitting in his history class and smiled again. If there was one class Matt just couldn't find the will to succeed in, it was history. He would still make good grades though merely because I thought history was intriguing so I would help him through it; in fact, ever since we met freshman year over that very matter, I had helped him out.

I flinched somewhat in my seat as the bell rang again. Wow, first period was over already. I gathered everything and stood from my seat ready to get to my second class, computer science. Not having far to walk, I quickly found myself in the computer lab and took a seat next to one my other friends, Yolei Inoue. Her long purple-colored hair was held back somewhat with a blue headband and I thought that he glasses were a little big for face but I guess I was just bias over my own. She smiled to me as I sat down but we had no time for idle chat as the teacher began to speak, starting class a few minutes early.

"All right class, settle down. I'm going to start early today because I need to stress the ground rules. I know that some of you have been in this class or another with me before but these computers are not little trinkets for your pleasure. And trust me, every semester someone says to themselves 'oh whatever I can have my drink in here if I want' and BAM." I twitched as his voice rose with that one word.

"Anyhow, let me start by passing out--." He was interrupted by the door swinging open and a girl almost falling into classroom. Had it not been for her holding desperately onto the doorknob, she probably would have fallen but instead she merely stumbled in and looked up embarrassed at herself. My eyes went wide as a flash of pink caught my eye. If I had been holding anything, it would've fallen to the ground as I watched Mimi blush before looking to our teacher.

"I'm sorry, I was a little lost…and then I was excited because I finally found the classroom so I guess I wanted to burst in…" I looked around at everyone finding them all to have confused faces. I knew that they all knew who Mimi was but the question on everyone's minds, including my own, was why is she in this class?

"It's not a problem." Our teacher flashed her a smile before he checked her name off the roster. "Go take a seat at a computer."

My stomach was flipping as I stared at the empty seat on the other side of me. I blinked in desperation as Mimi walked towards me and sat down. She politely smiled at me as she set down her bag and I smiled back, my mind in a daze. Snapping myself out of it, I tried not to stare and focused my attention back to the front of the class.

I could not wait until lunch so that I could tell Matt about this one!

End

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Yay for chapter two! Again, I feel I should stress that even though it seems like Matt and Joe are somewhat couply, they really are just close friends.

Please know, just like my other current Digimon story, this story will be continued based on reviews! I need feedback to get motivated even if you review with a simple "good job, keep it up" that makes my day completely. I try to review every story I read and I hope that you will do the same!

Thanks for reading and I hope to have chapter 3 (from Tai's POV) posted soon!


	3. The King

Disclaimer: I do not own the Digimon franchise; that would be Bandai's job.

Author Note: All right you readers out there. I have an update for you! I know it's been a long time but this story kind of got pushed aside for a while. I do apologize but I worked really hard to get this chapter done! It's the third POV change in the story and again it **backs everything up to the beginning of the first day again**. I can't guarantee quick updates for this story or anything but know that I'm working and that it's actually quite complicated to work everything out.

_**Special thanks to my reviewers**_!!!!! Neo-Chan, Pyjamas, Omniskriba and Starr! You guys are amazing and I hope that if you're reading you enjoy this next chapter!!!!!

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Everyone Has a Poker Face

Chapter 3: The King

Tai's POV

I closed the door to my mom's car and turned to look wearily at the school's front doors, my thoughts wandering back to the years I've already spent here. I both love and hate this school for reasons that contradict themselves and really just confuse me. I love this school because it contains some of my good friends and because it let's me live out my greatest soccer dreams before I have to go out into the _real_ world and get a _real_ job. On the flip side, I hate this school because of the social cliques and the wide-range of extremely hateful people…but mostly I hate it because I just feel like I can't be myself sometimes. Yeah, I know, how could the big soccer star not feel at home when everybody worships the ground he walks on? Fact is, yeah I'm a kickass soccer player…but I'm also many other things and not everyone knows that. Actually, really only my sister knows everything about me. Kari is two years younger than I am and a freshman this year. Yeah, having your little sister at the school could get annoying but fortunately, we hang out with completely different crowds. Speaking of Kari, as I continued to stare down the school she walked up behind me after closing her car door as well. I turned to find her smiling warmly at me.

"Ready to face the world of high school?" I furrowed my brow at her.

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you? It is _your_ first day here. I mean, I'm the king around these parts sister." She just rolled her eyes at me, as I knew she would. Like I said, she is annoying and predictable but she's my little sister and I love her for it. She's the only person I know that understands me completely…and she's the only person who knows the one thing no one else knows. Kari pulled me out of my thoughts again as she began walking towards the school. I jogged to catch up with her and took a deep breath before pushing the front doors open.

At this point, the front lobby was getting pretty crowded so I made my way to the cafeteria, pushing past people as I walked. Reaching the end of a large crowd, I turned around to catch Kari's eye. Despite the brother-sister code, I truly love Kari and I knew today was a proud moment for her. When I saw that she had turned to me, I gave her my hundred-watt smile and waved. She rolled her eyes again but smiled and waved back at me knowing everything I held behind that smile. I watched her for a moment longer before returning on my original route to the cafeteria. I didn't have to walk far though as I saw a familiar face; the one I had been looking for in fact.

"Tai! Dude! What's up?" Daisuke Motomiya came up next to me, catching me in a headlock and ruffling my hair a bit, as if it could actually be ruffled at all. Dai was only a year younger than I am and we knew each other over the years via playing soccer together. And of course, since our names rhymed and we were two of the best soccer players, we were constantly referred to as Tai-Dai on the field. I smiled at him as he circled me, grinning as well.

"My, my, looking pretty fit this year Tai. That soccer championship is so ours!" I chuckled.

"Yeah, we're gonna kick it up out there Dai." He grinned to me before motioning for me to follow him over toward the rest of our soccer buds. I couldn't help but take a deep breath in preparation…trust me, I love the soccer team to death but sometimes it was hard to hang out with them for long periods. Still, I am the captain so putting on my usual huge grin I followed Dai over to them. At seeing me, they all cheered as we exchanged high-fives all around.

"Tai, how's it going man?"

"How was your summer bro?"

"Hope you're ready for a killer season!" Before I could say much else to my teammates, another voice chimed in.

"Well, well if it isn't the soccer buddies." I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily as I turned to see the familiar face. Hiro, captain of the school's football team, stood glowering over me; this kid and I go way back. Even though he was technically supposed to have graduated already, he's in my class. He likes to tell people that the only reason he was held back two years was because of his "mad skills on the football field" but anyone with a brain knows that it's really because he's just flat out an idiot. As on almost any day of the week, he was wearing half the school uniform; beige slacks, a white collar-shirt and, instead of our green blazer, his ever present letter jacket. He narrowed his dark blue eyes at my attitude and ran his fingers through his short muddy brown hair. I just rolled my eyes again and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Did you want something Hiro?" Even though I had to look up to stare him in the eye, I still glared at him defiantly. I heard him grunt before he leaned to my eye-level.

"I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you Tai-boy. You're not the king around here, I am." He stood up straight again and turned to his friend to bump fists. "Everybody knows that football trumps soccer every time." I quirked my eyebrow, glancing around as Hiro's "boys" loudly agreed with their leader. Hiro looked to me again as if he was inviting me to try and top his comment. Smiling at this, I stared right back.

"If that's true then why haven't you guys ever won a tournament?" The football players grew instantly quiet at this and my smirk grew. Hiro did not look happy with me at all; I just love pissing this guy off, I almost can't help myself. I held back my laughter as Hiro leaned down to face me again.

"Are you trying to start something Kamiya?" I would've replied had the bell not decided to ring at that time. Not wanting to get in too much trouble on the first day, Hiro backed off giving me that 'we'll finish this later' glare. I couldn't help but roll my eyes again as I turned back to my own friends. Grabbing my stuff, I led the way as we all said our good-byes and drifted to our respected classrooms. My first two periods, math and biology, flew by quicker than I had expected and with few consequences. The first day of school was always a breeze; however, as I was on my way to my third period class I realized that I was running a bit late and, in my rushing, I failed to notice something important in the hallway…another person. Completely out of the blue, I walked right into someone. Now, considering my background with sports and soccer, I was able to keep my balance but this poor person I ran into fell straight to the floor, papers and books flying everywhere in the process. Immediately, I turned red with embarrassment and kneeled down to help them.

"I am so sorry about that, I completely spaced. Are you okay?" Gathering up their papers, I glimpsed at the other person and realized that it was a guy. He barely looked up at me as he spoke shyly.

"It's no problem…I wasn't really looking either; I'm fine." I furrowed my brow; why wouldn't this guy look up at me? Still staring at the top of his head, I handed him the papers I had gathered and then extended my hand to help him stand up. He glanced almost hesitantly at my hand before grasping it with his own, allowing me to help pull him to his feet. It was only as he was rising that I finally got a good look at him. Styled and longer blonde hair, piercing eyes, amazing features. If I could have stopped time, I would have chosen that moment to do it just to stare at him even longer. He was roughly my height, maybe a little taller and definitely thinner, pale skin tone, looked pretty dang handsome in our school uniform too. Our eyes met for the first time and something instantly sparked in my head like nothing I have ever felt before in my life. I wanted to stare into those deep pools longer but suddenly the handsome guy in front of me blushed and disappeared. I watched him walk away; definitely checking out some other features.

…By the way, if you couldn't tell by how I am drooling over this guy, I'm gay. That's my secret around these parts, the one thing that only Kari knows about me because if anyone else found out, I would probably be kicked off the team and ridiculed until the end of time. I blinked in frustration as the blonde-haired beauty turned a corner and couldn't help feeling at a loss; what if I never saw him again? However, out of the corner of my eye I noticed something to ensure that we would meet again…and then I realized that I was late for my third class.

* * *

After classes and a rigorous first soccer practice were finally done, I literally bounced in anticipation of going home to tell Kari what had happened. I fished for my keys to our apartment and finally found them, unlocking and opening the front door as quickly as I could. Figuring that Kari was probably in the living room, I shouted from the front door as I slipped off my shoes. 

"Kari, you will never guess!" Dropping my stuff, I ran toward the back of the apartment and, as I suspected, found my sister watching television from our couch. Walking up behind her, I leaned down and gave her a sweaty soccer hug. I heard her cry out in protest but refused to let go.

"What are you so giddy about? Did you and my ex score a goal in a practice game or something?" I rolled my eyes even though I knew she wouldn't see. Of course, she just had to make a reference to Daisuke and I. See, two years ago when Kari and Dai were still in middle-school, they actually dated for a while. Everything went pretty smoothly until Kari started to notice Dai hanging out with me more than her. Eventually she broke up with him because she claimed he was using her to get soccer tips from me. I did always feel bad about it because I feel like I kind of stole him, but she never let's me off the hook, constantly teasing me about it. Putting that aside in my mind, I moved from behind the couch and sat down next to her an excited look on my face.

"I met someone." I grinned as Kari's eyes lit up.

"Tai! I'm so proud of you and excited! Ooooh! What's his name?" She was staring at me intently but I just sighed happily and leaned back against the couch with my hands behind my head.

"Who knows…" Almost immediately, Kari smacked her forehead at my stupidity; I just shrugged in response. "He walked away before I had the time to ask."

"You're an idiot." Kari shook her head at me and turned back to the TV but I sat up and quickly got her attention again.

"Hey! Not completely, I have one of his books. So we'll have to meet up again for him to get it back. Genius, right?" Kari was still staring at me disbelief.

"You STOLE one of his books? You really are an idiot!" I rolled my eyes and lightly smacked her shoulder.

"No! He left it behind." At that, Kari sighed in relief before getting overly excited again.

"Well, read his name from the front cover!" Sharing in her excitement, I ran back to the front door where I had dropped my stuff and grabbed his book from my bag. Kari was egging me on in the background but I told her to hush as I finally pulled out the right book and made my way back to the couch. Opening the front cover, I glanced down the list of names.

"Hmm…let's see here. Aha! Ishida Yamato. That's him. Even his name is gorgeous." I sighed dreamily again and Kari rolled her eyes at me.

"I swear sometimes…if it weren't for the copious amount of sweat and stenches that follow you around, I would feel like I have an older sister instead of an older brother." I gave Kari a face but then thought it over and had to agree. Before I knew it, Kari had already retrieved the school directory from my room and was looking up Ishida; suddenly my excitement was replaced with dread.

"Uh oh…I have a bad feeling…"

"Oh yes Tai, you are going to call him tonight." I gulped.

"But I don't even know the guy! He might not even be interested or remember me." I pouted but Kari just shook her head at me.

"Then get to know him you freak. Just call him and tell him that he left his book and see if he'll meet you somewhere for coffee or something; it's not _that_ hard, sheesh!"

I felt myself gulp again but before I could protest more, Kari pressed the phone against my ear. The moment I heard it ring, my stomach flew into my throat; the moment I heard someone answer, I almost fainted. When the other person said hello again, my brain kicked in.

"Um, hi. Is Yamato there?"

End

* * *

_(evil grin)_ I left kind of a cliffhanger didn't I…well, you actually don't get to find out what happens until the chapter after the next one so I'm in even deeper water…(_runs away)_ I'll start working on the next chapters asap!! I promise! 

More reviewsMore inspiration!!! Thanks for reading!


	4. The Queen

Just for future reference, I made these up for anyone. Also, you can probably see how some things might happen in the future. (sorry for the weird spacing, it didn't transfer exactly how i wanted)

_**SCHEDULES FOR MAIN CHARACTERS**_

**Matt**---------**Joe**---------**Tai**---------**Mimi**

History------Literature----Math-------Math

Literature---Comp Sci----Biology-----Computer Science

Music-------Math-------Literature-----History

_**----------------------------------LUNCH-----------------------------------------**_

Biology------History------History------Biology

Math--------Biology-------Gym--------Literature

_**-----------------------------After School Activities----------------------------**_

None---------Tutoring--------Soccer-------Cheerleading

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Digimon: Digital Monsters.

AUTHOR NOTE: Again, sorry, Sora is very OOC and even Mimi I think is a little OOC at times. And also, again, I'm basing this more off of my high school experience even though this story is seemingly set in Japan. And for the last time, we're backtracking to the beginning of the first day. And, little overlap with the second chapter.

* * *

Everyone Has a Poker Face

Chapter Four: The Queen

Mimi's POV

I stared up at the morning sky as my hair blew with the breeze. In a perfect world, I'd be in the passenger's seat of my perfect boyfriend's comfortable car in anything but our ugly school uniforms and he'd be driving extra carefully because he would never want anything bad to happen to me. However, in the real world, I'm sitting in the passenger's seat of my best friend Sora's convertible in my green skirt and blazer trying to distract myself from her not-so-safety oriented driving. But hey, if I wasn't learning how _not_ to drive from Sora then I guess it just wouldn't be real life. All in all, my real life's actually not so bad, or at least, I've learned to deal with it as it comes.

Next item on the list of things to deal with? The first day of school. Sora finally pulled into the student lot behind our school and parked her car turning to me with a big smile.

"Ready to charge junior year and find the man of your dreams?" I resisted laughing at Sora's comment and nodded to her anyway. Did she really think that the only reason we go to high school is to find boys? I sure don't.

"Yeah, sure Sora. Let's get going."

"Yeah, we need to hurry; I'm sure the other girls are waiting on us." I smiled at Sora's excitement and we both got out of her car heading straight for the door leading into the cafeteria where everyone else was chatting along with their friends. As we walked through to the crowd to our usual table, I was being bombarded with greetings. I smiled to everyone and waved when I could but I focused mostly on just trying to get through everyone. I know, this makes me sound like a movie star or something; try head cheerleader. I guess I couldn't help but be popular but sometimes it was a little nerve wracking. Letting Sora lead me, I just followed her until we finally reached our table in the middle of the cafeteria. The other girls were gossiping away but stopped to smile and hug me and Sora as we approached.

"Hey girl! How are you? I'm so glad to see you!" I smiled and hugged back though I never did answer the question because the moment our hug ended, the girls went right back into gossiping, pulling Sora and I in on it as well. Feeling a little overwhelmed, I listened but didn't really get much talking in; but this was always how the first day was. I mean, I have some crazy friends but they're not crazy all year long…well, most of the time.

I was kind of relieved when the first bell rang through the cafeteria and everyone started dispersing. The girls were all disappointed but Sora and I waved as we started walking in the opposite direction toward our math classroom. When we finally sat down in seats next to each other, I saw Sora glancing around the room almost predatorily for all the cute boys. I shook my head at her but took a glance myself at everyone in our class. To my left I noticed the soccer captain Taichi and his friend Daisuke; I waved when they looked my way. Tai smiled and waved back at me but Dai pulled him back to their intense conversation with his extravagant gestures and sound effects. I too was pulled away when Sora jabbed me with her elbow.

"Do you see that guy over there? Is he new? I don't think I've seen him before, what a cutie." I searched for the guy Sora was pointing to and stared at him intently until suddenly I remembered who he was.

"Sora, that's Ken Ichijouji."

"That nerd from our science class last year?"

"Sora, just because someone's smart doesn't always mean they're a nerd."

"Whatever, the kid wore orange loafers with our green uniforms." I had to agree with Sora on that one; he made a bad fashion choice, but still, Sora continued, "he did not look like that last year though."

"Don't you remember? He talked about how he was getting contacts and his braces off and all that. He must've seen a dermatologist too; he does look pretty good." Sora shrugged at me and I rolled my eyes. We both looked to the front of the classroom as the teacher began speaking.

Class seemed to fly by and before I knew it the bell rang and Sora was pulling me up from my chair. I put everything back into my bag and stood, following Sora out the door. As we carefully moved through the halls, Sora began questioning me.

"So what's your next class?" At this, I somewhat froze. It wasn't that I didn't remember what my class was; it's just that it's kind of embarrassing. Sora was looking at me expectantly and I racked my brain for something to say.

"Um…it's my elective period…I'm in…gym." I could've smacked myself at how utterly obvious it was that I was lying but Sora just cocked her head.

"I thought you already took your required gym class?"

"Well, I just opted to take another one…no other electives really looked fun." I was fumbling again, until finally an idea struck me. "Plus, this way, I'll be able to scope out our new cheerleaders and see if they can handle the squad."

At that, Sora nodded in agreement and secretly I sighed in relief. "All right, well, I guess that I'll see you at lunch then. Usual table?" I smiled.

"Of course! See ya then." I waved as Sora turned and walked off in the opposite direction. I felt even more relief to see her go but as I turned to go to my next class, I realized that I had no idea where my classroom was.

"Crap…" Pulling out my class schedule, I looked down at the room number only to find that I still didn't know where I was supposed to go. Still, I started heading down the hallway glancing back and forth from my schedule to the room numbers desperately searching for my computer science class.

So, I guess it's about confession time now since I just lied to my best friend about taking another gym class. Yes, I'm actually taking a computer science class as my elective but I really have quite a valid reason. Despite popular belief that I'm well-schooled in the knowledge of instant messaging and things like that just because I have a lot of friends, I actually can hardly turn on a computer let alone work with one. My parents have always believed that I shouldn't be wasting my time in front of a computer screen instead of living my life and I do agree with them. However, they don't understand that when I need to use a computer for homework or something, I don't know how to get it done; and since they refuse to help me, I'm sort of, in my own little way, rebelling and taking this class to actually learn how to properly use a computer. Not even Sora knows about my computer frustrations mostly just because we're together most of the time anyway but still, it's a big deal to me.

And, though I hate to sound conceited, I really don't want anyone to know that I'm taking this class because it could really ruin my reputation if people found out. I don't worry so much about people knowing; it's more about how people can twist rumors into awful, hurtful tools to really take me out. (yeah, this isn't really flowing correctly, but it's something at least to edit later) _doesn't really make sense considering the nerds will talk about it and it'll spread anyway._

Anywho, I really need to find this class; at this point, I was already going to be late but I still didn't even know where I was. Suddenly however, I glanced back and forth from my schedule to the door numbers and realized that I was getting closer. My excitement got the better of me though, because the moment I found the right room I celebrated for a second and then leapt for the door handle. I don't know if I'd just expected it to be locked or something but the moment my fingers hit that handle, the door flew open and I oh-so-gracefully stumbled in. I swear; if I hadn't been desperately holding onto the doorknob, I would've fallen straight on my face. And speaking of my face, I could feel it turn beet red as I glanced up at all the people at their computers and immediately found them all staring back at me. I quickly moved my gaze to the teacher.

"I'm sorry, I was a little lost…and then I was excited because I finally found the classroom so I guess I wanted to burst in…" I chuckled at myself still quite embarrassed and I could still feel everyone staring at me. The teacher smiled though and checked my name off of the attendance sheet.

"It's not a problem. Go take a seat at a computer." I nodded to him thankful to be moving from the front of the room and I looked for an empty space. Spotting one off to the right side, I made my way over there and set my bag down next to the chair. I smiled over to the guy next to me and was happy to see him smile back but I didn't have time to say anything to him as the teacher continued with class. I sat down and relaxed; at least I couldn't embarrass myself much further right?

About an hour later, I walked out of the classroom and heaved a sigh. No, I didn't do anything else stupid but I still felt like I did. The whole time, I had almost no idea what they were talking about and to top it off, we already had an assignment. Oh I am so toast in that class. After making a mental note to talk to the teacher later, I headed for my history class next.

* * *

Fortunately history was a breeze and I finally felt relieved; it was lunch time at last. I made my way toward the cafeteria, dropping my books into my locker along the way, and found myself sitting down at me and Sora's usual lunch table. 

"So how did the new cheerleaders look?" I looked up at Sora completely confused.

"Huh?" She shot me a look as she took a sip of her water.

"You know the new freshman? In your gym class? How did they look?" Suddenly it dawned on me and I desperately lied through my teeth.

"Oh! Right; the newbies. They looked decent, definitely need to some practice to keep up with us though." I flashed a smile and Sora smirked back at me before turning to the other girls to pass along the message. I sighed gratefully; though, in the back of my mind I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up my lie for much longer. I'd probably end up telling Sora sooner or later.

Still, I could tell that this was going to be a hard year.

* * *

Note: I apologize for the short length but honestly, the main focus for the entirety of the story is going to be more on Matt, Tai and Joe so while Mimi is still a big character with more secrets, her involvement later won't be as much. Sorry to all the Mimi fans! But who knows, I might just think of something for her.

And YES, the next chapter will be ALL Taito goodness. You get to find out what happens you crazy Taito fans! (including myself). I will try to have that posted as soon as possible!!!!

Please review to keep me going through my crazy college semester!!!

Thank you for reading!


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